County faces suit on sand mine moratorium

Eau Claire County is facing a lawsuit from a Minnesota company over its moratorium on silica sand mines. High Country Sand Company, based in Winona, Minnesota, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday, claiming that the company’s permit applications were completed to build a silica sand mine in Eau Claire County before the county imposed a 6 month moratorium in November to review the negative effects sand mining brings to the environment.

Eau Claire County attorney Nathan Novak says the county board added an amendment to the moratorium so it would apply to all sand mine projects, even those with completed applications on file. “We had two applications on file prior to the time the moratorium being put into place, and at the time the amendment was made,” says Novak. High Country is asking the court to order the county to review and approve it’s application, and if approval is denied, lift the moratorium that is set to last until April.